1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to wall systems, and in particular to a wall system having stay-in-place corrugated panels joined together in adjacent and opposing configurations forming a hollow wall structure into which concrete is poured.
2. Related Art
Throughout every year the news is full of stories about severe weather conditions, e.g., tornadoes, hurricanes, and the like, and the resulting injuries and damage inflicted upon people and property. Therefore, there is a need for a wall system that can be used to build a temporary shelter for providing protection to one or more persons during life threatening, severe weather conditions. There is a need that such a wall system is easily built, requiring minimal effort and cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,126 (xe2x80x9cthe ""126 Patentxe2x80x9d) provides a wall system having multiple panels that are configured into a sectional unit which may be filled with concrete to form the walls of a confinement cell. There are several reasons, however, as to why it would be disadvantageous to use the wall system of the ""126 Patent in creating a shelter for the protection of persons from severe weather. First, the corrugated sheets have holes therein for fluid concrete to flow between the corrugated sheet and a face plate. A wall system of the ""126 Patent is used to build confinement cells for inmates and other involuntary occupants. Accordingly, a face place is needed to prevent an occupant from accessing the internal structure of the wall panels, thereby eliminating the possibility of the occupant to escape or to store contraband within the wall panels. In contrast, occupants of the present invention are voluntary occupants that do not want to interfere with the integrity of the wall panels. Therefore, a face plate and concrete between the face plate and a corrugated sheet are unnecessary elements that would render a wall system for a weather shelter unduly complicated and expensive.
Second, two adjacent wall panels of the ""126 Patent are connected solely by uniting rods. As the only means for joining two adjacent wall panels, the uniting rods provide a very unstable and non-rigid connection between sequential wall panels.
Therefore, there is a need for a wall system used for building a weather shelter having a sturdy and rigid means for connecting two adjacent wall panels, wherein each wall panel does not require superfluous elements such as a face plate and additional concrete between a corrugated sheet and a face plate.
The present invention solves the problems of conventional wall systems involving wall panels of corrugated sheets as a stay-in-place forming system for concrete. Specifically, the present wall system joins corrugated sheets together, both in adjacent and opposing configurations, thereby forming a crevasse between the corrugated sheets into which concrete is poured. Each corrugated sheet has a horizontal reinforcement member rigidly attached to the internal side of the corrugated sheet wherein a horizontal reinforcement member is an L-shaped angle steel having a plurality of connecting holes on its horizontal element. A plurality of uniting rods are used to connect two opposing wall panels by inserting each end of the uniting rod into the connecting holes of the horizontal reinforcement member of each opposing wall panel.
The present invention is directed to using the wall system for building a shelter for protection from severe weather conditions, e.g., tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. A person may build a shelter, e.g., an 8xe2x80x2xc3x9712xe2x80x2 out-building, using the wall system of the present invention that upon the occurrence of such severe weather, one or more persons may enter the shelter and remain in the protective housing until the life-threatening weather passes.
There are several features of the present invention that provide a better and stronger wall system than conventional wall systems. First, the present wall system eliminates the need for any face plate from the interior wall surface. Conventional wall systems, e.g., in the ""126 Patent, are used as confinement cells wherein a face plate is needed to prevent an involuntary occupant from attempting to access the internal wall structure as a means of escape or use the internal crevasse as a hiding place for weapons or contraband. In contrast, the present wall system provides a means for building protective housing to protect occupants from severe weather storms, e.g., tornados and hurricanes, wherein the occupants voluntarily want to stay in the protective housing. By eliminating the face plate, the present wall system is more cost effective and easier to assemble.
Second, the present wall system eliminates the holes in the corrugated sheet of conventional wall systems, e.g., in the ""126 Patent, wherein the holes are used as a means for allowing concrete to flow into the space between a face plate and the corrugated sheet. Because the present invention does not require the use of a face plate, as discussed above, the wall system of the present invention does not require the use of holes in the corrugated sheet. In fact, the use of such holes would be detrimental to the present invention. If such holes existed in the corrugated sheet, then when concrete is poured into the crevasse of the wall system, the concrete would flow out of the crevasse between the corrugated sheets because there would be no face plate to contain the concrete, thereby preventing the wall from being filled up with concrete. Therefore, the need for the holes in the corrugated sheet is eliminated. Furthermore, the elimination of the holes in the corrugated sheet further reduces the price of manufacturing the components of the wall system and makes assembly easier.
Third, the present wall system comprises a more secure means for connecting adjacent wall panels. The preferred embodiment comprises a connecting bar being a piece of L-angled steel overlaid across a horizontal reinforcement member of a first wall panel and a horizontal reinforcement member of a second wall panel, thereby spanning the joint between the two adjacent wall panels. In the preferred embodiment, the L-angled steel is overlaid across four holes, two holes of the reinforcement member of the first wall panel and two holes of the reinforcement member of the second wall panel, so that the holes in the connecting bar are aligned with the holes of the reinforcement members to create a combination of aligned holes. A plurality of uniting rods are then inserted into the aligned holes as a means for securing the sequentially adjacent wall panels to each other as well as to opposing wall panels.